Lavrov tells Kerry about importance of direct dialogue between Kiev and Donbas forces

February 18, 2015, 19:16 UTC+3In a phone conversation the top diplomats discussed settling the Ukrainian crisis on the basis of the Measures to Implement the Minsk Accords — a document coordinated on February 12

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, stressed significance of a direct dialogue between the government in Kiev and the self-defense forces in the much-troubled unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Their discussion focused on settling the Ukrainian crisis on the basis of the Measures to Implement the Minsk Accords — a document coordinated on February 12 with the assistance of leaders of the Minsk format countries," the report said.

"The Russian minister highlighted the importance of direct dialogue between the Kiev government and the authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk, including in the interests of an earliest possible end of armed clashes in the area of Debaltsevo," the ministry said. "He recalled the Ukrainian government’s duty to carry out a Constitution report and to grant a special status to Donbas."